Name's Song, Tune Song
by Citizenofwhoville123
Summary: The Doctor reaches Trenzalore only to be saved by a mysterious teen named Tune Song who gives him the tools to save River from her fateful trip to the library. But who is he? This is beginning to sound like my other stories. Sorry. Its really different!
1. Chapter 1

A/N Soooooooooo...

Yep, folks, it's me! That crazy American author who can't stick to one story. Anyway, this idea has been collecting dust in my head, so I thought I'd write it down. Again, no connection to my other fics, unless I decide otherwise later, which I might. This will most likely be multi chapter, though updates will come sooner if you review!

Chapter One - On the fields of Trenzalore...

The day had come. All efforts of the Silence had failed, and it could no longer be averted.

He stood, the lush green grass of the plains blowing around his ankles. In front of him they all stood, every single force he'd ever fought, from daleks to cybermen to weeping angles. Aliens he'd only met once and aliens he'd defeated over and over again. And they were all headed by prisoner zero. The first monster that this regeneration had ever fought.

His heart sank. He was posing as her. As River Song. His wife, amazing Melody Pond, who he had knowingly sent to her death. It was cruel mockery.

"Well then," shouted the doctor, trying to display his usual confident exuberance and failing miserably, "We all know why we're here. Let's not delay."

Not - River smiled evily, and the expression was close enough to something River would have worn that it almost made him want to cry.

"Doctor..." it hissed, "Doctor Who?"

Slowly, others began to join in the chant, and the doctor bowed his head and took a deep breath. He opened his mouth to speak...

Suddenly, a figure appeared just in front of The Doctor.

"Song." he said before the doctor could speak. "Tune Song, physicist."

And just like that, the army retreated. The Doctor stared in amazement at the person in front of him.

"What did you just do? How...why...who are you?"

The young man turned around to face The Doctor when he spoke, grinning. Well, The Doctor said young man, but it was a bit of a stretch. He looked to be about fifteen years old, with tousled dark brown hair, bright, intelligent green eyes and an angular face that projected boyish glee and a certain flirtiness that reminded The Doctor painfully of River.

"We probably shouldn't stick around, Doctor. I'll explain everything once we're on the TARDIS."

The teen (he was probably a teen, The Doctor decided) grabbed The Doctor's hand and began dragging him in the direction of his beloved blue box.

"But I... I don't... Who are you?" the Doctor spluttered.

The boy stopped and turned to face the protesting timelord, looking horrified and amused at the same time.

"Hang on, you don't know who I am yet?" he asked.

"Never met you. At least, I don't think I have. Should I know you?"

They were now standing just outside the door of the TARDIS. The man let go of The Doctor and stuck out his other hand.

"Well then." he said cheerfully, "allow me to introduce myself properly. Name's Song. Doctor Tune Song. I'm fifteen, though if you haven't met me before yet, it doesn't matter for you, does it? I'm a physicist and time traveller, though not a time agent. Nasty fellas, time agents. And I think we should go inside, as I appear to be rambling. My mum says that the only person she has ever met who rambles quite as much as I do is my dad, and it really drives her mad...you don't care, do you?"

He opened the door of the TARDIS with a snap of his fingers and skipped inside and up to the console.

"But, I don't understand! Who are you? Where are your parents? How did you know to come here? And how the heck can you fly my TARDIS?"

"Spoilers!" he answered gleefully. "Now close the door, will you?"

The Doctor reluctantly did as he asked.

"Song. You said your name was Tune Song. Do you know River?"

"Again, spoilers! Oh, and by the way, you really should fetch her now."

"I can't." the Doctor sad sadly, bowing his head and blinking back tears. "She's dead. I couldn't save her."

"Oh, is that so! Here, catch!"

Tune tossed something at The Doctor, who caught it with one hand and examined it.

"Why are you giving me lipstick?" he asked, turning it over in his hand.

"Because it's her lipstick! God, you are thick this young!"

"I still don't understand. And why are you doing this?"

"Because, I'd really like to preserve my own existence. And it's simple. River's not, strictly speaking, dead. Her consciousness, her soul, all her memories are still alive. She just needs a body. With that lipstick, you can extract enough DNA material to clone her and then just download her right into it! And boom, she's back! It's all a bit icky to think about, what with all the sciencey wiencey cloning stuff, but it's worth it to have her back. You use to much if the lipstick, according to her, and she winds up with it smudged all over her, but it washes, so no harm done. You get a week with her, and then you have to leave, but meet her at the Pond's in the year 2016. And you'll meet me too, eventually. But anyway, spoilers!"

The Doctor looked startled and once again opened his mouth to speak, but Tune hit a button on a device strapped around his wrist, presumably a vortex manipulator though he wasn't close enough to tell for certain, and disappeared.

The Doctor, bewildered as he was, saw the sense in what the boy had said, and his idea to save River, as mad as it was, had the potential to work. He got to work immediately.

He had a wife to save.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N I GOT A REVIEW! Thanks so so so much to Sylva Dax for her lovely and helpful review! Of course, others are still appreciated... :) Hope everyone is well out there in the whoniverse! Anyone else see the Rory season seven spoilers online? :( Anyway, chapter 2! In my head, this takes place a bit after the last chapter and about a year or so since the library. Hope you like it!

Chapter 2 - One Week and Four years

The Doctor anxiously stood, watching as River's conciousness was downloaded into her still, lifeless body. For a few agonizing seconds, he thought he had failed, but after a minute, River suddenly gasped for air, collapsing against a bookcase.

"River!" he exclaimed, running forward.

River Song blinked a few times as the anxious man in front of her. Her vision swam in and out of focus, and she raised a shaky hand. The Doctor gently grabbed it, running a thumb over her fingers.

"D -doctor?" she murmered, shutting her eyes against the wavering images in front of her.

"River." he whispered again, sounding excited, pleased, and concerned at the same time.

"Doctor, what happened? Where am I?"

"Shhh." he said. "Just relax. I saved you. You're fine, safe now. I promise. Relax."

River took another deep, shaky breath, feeling absolutely horrible.

"That's it, breathe. Do you think you can stand? I need to get you back onto the TARDIS."

She was able to drag herself up onto her feet and, with the Doctor's help, hobble over to the doorway of the TARDIS, whereupon she collapsed into the Doctor's arms.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling terribly weak as he helped her up, his grasp gentle yet firm as he supported her.

For his part, the Doctor seemed fine with it and said nothing, allowing River to lean most of her weight on him.

He helps her into her bedroom which the TARDIS has helpfully moved quite close and gives her strict instructions to sleep. He doesn't leave her side that night though as she rests.

One Week Later...

River stood outside the Pond's door, looking at the Doctor as he began to head down the steps and back to the TARDIS.

The past week had been absolutely lovely. The Doctor had taken her to see a few sights, letting her marvel at the universe and simply enjoy her company. It was wonderful.

However, now he was leaving her with the Ponds, going off to do some kind of mad timey wimey thing he wouldn't tell her about. She didn't want him to leave.

"When will I see you again?" she asked.

The Doctor turned around to face her, looking incredibly shifty.

"Umm, I don't know."

"Yes you do." said River, crossing her arms over her chest and giving her husband a severe look.

He nervously bit his lip.

"Oh, in a bit, like, oh, um...four years."

"Four years?"

"Four years." he said, rocking back and forth.

"Why?" she demanded, a horrible sinking feeling surging through her. At least he's warning her this time.

"Spoilers." he almost smiles at his use of her catchphrase.

"I hate it when you say that."

"I hate it when you say it too, sweetie!" he says back.

River walks up to him and kisses him, trying not to picture it as goodbye.

"You sooo love it." she whispered.

"Oh, I love you, River." he says, absentmindedly playing with a stray curl.

"Love you too." she says, smiling.

She pretends it isn't goodbye, but she knows it is.

And if she sheds a couple of tears as he saunters off, well, that's nobody's business, is it?

Four years later...

River woke early that morning just like every other morning, getting up promptly even though she didn't really want to. She dressed and strapped on her holster and gun with a satisfied smile, fluffing up her hair and leaving her room.

Surprisingly, the rest of the household was already awake. Rory was busy in the kitchen, enjoying the freedom to work slowly on a Saturday. Amy sat on the couch, reading to her younger daughter Allinora, only two years old, and her little Tune, all of three years old, knelt on the carpet in front of the table, drawing. He seemed completely engrossed in what he was doing, but when he saw River, he discarded the crayon in his hand and ran toward her.

"Mummy!" he said hugging River.

"Morning, sweetie." she said happily, touseling his floppy brown hair and kissing his forehead. "You're up early."

The little boy smiled cheerfully at her.

"I wanted to draw!" he said happily, hugging her once more and returning to his artwork.

River gazed lovingly at her son, walking over to sit next to her mother and younger sister.

Her Tune Song, just a little more than three years old, her very own tiny timelord, just as brilliant and excitable and mad and wonderful as his rather silly father, born almost a year after the Doctor dropped her off at her parents home nearly four years prior and nearly a year and a half before his aunt Allinora, the most impossibly spectacular child in exsistance.

River loved it when she called him mummy. In order to protect the first new timelord to be born in centuries from those who would condemn him to his mother's fate, the rest of the universe was under the impression that Tune was the completely human son of her parents, Amy and Rory. Tune had never called his grandparents 'mum' or 'dad' as his "sister" Allinora did, adressing them by their given names, and River was always just 'River.' When they were alone, however, she was always mum or mummy to her son, and she loved to hear him say it.

Tune was honestly lucky that he even could pass as the Pond's son. With his dark floppy hair and hazel eyes, he looked amazingly like his father and really nothing like the rest of his family, though Amy swore that his face was River's with his father's eyes. His intellect was far beyond his age and he could talk quite well for three years old. He loved to read and draw and was funny, precocious, and ridiculously sweet. He was, on the whole, amazing, and River loved him with all her heart. She also feared for him terribly, because she knew that half the galaxy would kill to get their hands on him, to use him as a weapon. River swore to him and to herself before he was even born that she wouldn't let that happen, that she would be able to protect her little timelord at all costs, but thoughts wove their way into her mind, as cruel thoughts often did, memories of how powerful the Silence were and how powerless she felt pitted against them. The thought of someone taking advantage of Tune, a sweet, innocent child, broke her heart, and made her upset at even the thought of it.

For now, though, she was content to enjoy a morning with her family, with her parents and sister and, most of all, her son, pushing all the troubling thoughts to the back of her mind to be dealt with at another time.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N I know this has been a long time coming! Sorry! But here it is! It takes place a few days or weeks after the last one. (in other words, a bit) I hope you like it. The plot is about to get kind of...tricky in the next few chapters. Sorry. Or, i guess, if you like that kind of thing, you're welcome! (yeah, wishful thinking)

"It's 11:59."

Amy yawned loudly.

"For God's sake, River. You haven't slept for two days straight, and I don't care whether you're part anything. He's either coming, or he's not coming. Go to bed."

River knitted her fingers together.

"He's coming. He promised. Four years."

Amy nodded.

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Tell him what?"

"About Tune. You told us that no one could know who he really is. I doubt that the Doctor will see the resemblance himself. So are you going to tell him?"

River looked unhappily at her mother and said, with a sad sigh,

"No."

Amy obviously had not been expecting that response. She blinked a few times, as if trying to see if it was really River.

"No?"

"No."

"Why not?"

To Amy's surprise, River's eyes began to tear up. Amy has only ever seen River cry a few times, and every time she had, it seemed like the Doctor was the cause of them in some way.

"Because," she said, "think about it. Danger follows that man wherever he goes. What if someone forced the information from him, or used him to get a hold of Tune? I won't tell him for the same reason I've lied to everyone else. Tune isn't ready yet, he isn't ready to face the kidnappers and attackers, and there would be people after him. He's only three years old. I have to keep him safe."

"But River," said Amy gently, "doesn't he deserve to know?"

"Of course he deserves to know. But I can't tell him yet."

Amy knew that she wasn't going to be able to change River's mind. Under most circumstances, Amy honestly agreed with her decision to hide her son from the universe. River had told her stories of the childhood Melody Pond barely remembered, and River would do anything to keep Tune from having a life like hers. However, this seemed a bit ridiculous, especially since Amy knew that River trusted the Doctor with her life.

Just apparently not with her son's.

"Fine." said Amy, "Now, it's past midnight. Go to sleep."

"Amy, do you honestly think that I can sleep now?"

"No." she admitted, smiling. "It's your decision, River, and Rory and I will play our part, but remember, he loves you, and he loves Tune whether he knows it or not."

"Of the two, I think loving me is more of an accomplishment. It's rather hard to dislike Tune."

"That it is. Your son is pretty amazing."

"Well of course-"

"MUMMY!" screamed a voice from upstairs.

"Tune!" said both women in unison.

"Your son screams like a girl, River." muttered Amy as she followed River up the stairs.

River and Amy met Rory who was carrying a sleepy Allinora at the top of the stairs.

"What's going on?" he asked, frowning at the pair of them.

"We don't know." said Amy while River wrestled with the doorknob of her son's room.

Finally, River pushed open the door, bursting in with gun in hand to be greeted with a rather peculiar sight.

Tune had crawled up to the headboard of his bed and was curled up there, shying away from the blue police box at the foot of the foresaid bed, from which a man was collapsing out of, face covered in bloody scratches and drenched from head to toe in some kind of liquid.

"Oh my god." said River, walking up to the man. "It's you."

"Who is he m- River?" asked Tune, obviously terrified by everything that was happening around him. Allinora began to cry from Rory's arms.

"It's really you? It's really you!"

"Hello." said the Doctor weakly, spreading his arms out. "Sorry about the mess. Am I late?"

River glanced over at the clock on Tune's bedside table.

"By nearly 12 minutes." she said, running up to him and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Hi." he whispered in her ear.

"Hi." she replied in the same tone, smiling. "Why are you all wet?"

"It's a long story." he said.

"Right then," River said, louder this time. "why don't you just take everyone downstairs Amy, and I'll be there in a moment once we clean up this mess that the Doctor has made, hmmm?"

Amy nodded and gestured for Tune to follow her. The little boy took one last look at his mother and the Doctor before climbing out of his bed and running down the hall after the Ponds.

Satisfied that the rest of her family had left, River turned back to face the Doctor.

"You're really back."

"I never should have left."

"No, you shouldn't have, but it's all right."

"No, River, it's really not. I-"

"Oh, shut up."

"Make me." said the Doctor, grinning at her.

Instead of replying, River leaned in and kissed him, looking directly into his green eyes.

After a moment, the Doctor said,

"I should probably change into something a bit les...wet."

"Probably." she agreed, watching him go. "Please come back."

"I always come back, River. And I will. It won't even be four years this time."

River didn't leave the room until the TARDIS has dematerialized. When she did, however, she felt as light as air.

Because he had come back.

And she hadn't had to lie to him yet.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Thank you soooooo much for the reviews! I was a ridiculously happy person today! I'll try to write the in time to post it today (good luck)

Just a note: someone mentioned this, so I thought I'd clarify for everyone. The reason the Doctor leaves for four years because Tune tells him to is because the Doctor realizes that if he doesn't maintain the established timeline and make River wait, it could effect Tune's personal future, making it so he couldn't rescue the Doctor and help rescue River. I know it still doesn't make much sense, but bear with me here.

The next chapter will take place right after this. It's just a flashback really, a short thing I thought I'd post since I probably won't update tomorrow.

Enjoy :)

8 months later (I know, another massive time jump, but I think it's necessary.)

River watched as Allinora ran after the birthday boy laughing hysterically and brandishing the toy sonic screwdriver, screaming 'Doctor, you forgot the sonic!'

Ever since the Doctor's surprise visit in the middle of the night eight months prior, both Tune and Allinora had been obsessed with the idea of the Doctor, the TARDIS, the universe in general. It had been Alli's first word, 'doctor,' something River was very smug about since Tune's first word had been 'mummy.' All Tune ever wanted to hear about at bedtime was his alien father and mother and their adventures together.

River remembered one night in particular, the night the Doctor showed up in Tune's room.

After Amy and Rory put Allinora to bed, River had gone up to tuck in her son, who, except for the fact that he screamed rather loudly when the TARDIS first arrived, was not the least bit fazed by anything going on and in fact rather interested by the whole matter.

"Do I get a story?" he asked, squirming under the blankets.

River had already told him a story earlier that night (the finer points of the second law of thermo dynamics - this was her child after all), but in loo of all that had happened, she thought that the least she could do was tell him a story to help him sleep.

She knew very well that the Doctor was likely to jump too far into the future. The man meant well, but his timing tended to be a bit off, which was ironic given the name of his species. However, she was too ecstatic at the moment that she had seen him at all to feel like doing much complaining.

"What shall I tell you about then?" she asked him, brushing a few dark locks of hair out of his face.

"Tell me about the Doctor. About my daddy."

Of course.

Tune had always known who his real father was. River had made sure of it. But before now, Tune had never asked questions and River had never given him details. After all, what if the Doctor didn't come back? So Tune's father remained a faceless man no one talked about.

Until now.

River sighed.

"What do you want to know, sweetie?"

"That was him, right?"

River nodded.

"In his TARDIS?"

She nodded again, not seeing where Tune was going with this.

"And he didn't recognize me. He doesn't even know about me."

River nodded, not knowing what to say to that, because the Doctor didn't even know he had a son, let alone that that son was Tune.

"You won't tell him about me, will you." said the little boy sadly, gazing up at her.

See this was the problem with raising the Doctors child, especially the Doctors and her child. He was just too clever, too astute. Surprise parties would be impossible. And he knew her too well. It was one of the things she loved about him, but she wasn't going to be able to lie to him about this.

"No, Tune. Not yet. When you're older, but not yet."

"Why, mummy."

"You know why."

River paused.

"But you know something, Tune."

"What?" he whispered, his eyes half closed. He never argued with any of her decisions.

He's so young, River thought, and he trusts me so completely. Am I worthy of that trust?

"He loves you." she said to her tired son, running her fingers through his floppy hair. "Whether he knows who you are or not, he loves you, loves you as much as I do, and that's an awful lot, my love."

"mmmmmm." said Tune, already mostly asleep.

"Sleep, my love." she said, kissing his forehead. "Mummy and Daddy love you terribly, and we'll keep you safe. I promise."

She stood up and walked over to the door, flipping the lightswitch off. When she left Tune's room, she didn't know whether to smile or cry.

So she did both.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N I know that the last chapter wasnt all that great, and it's been ages, but my life has been super crazy, so I haven't had much time to write, and then I lost the work I did on this one, so I've had a difficult time finishing! Sorry sorry sorry!

Reviewers are amazing people! You ROCK! Thanks sooooooo much! They make writing so much easier (even if it takes me a while) :)

Also: this takes place almost right after the last chapter, just in case there's any confusion!

River leaned against the doorway as the TARDIS materialized a few feet away. She wasn't all that surprised, and she'd had a feeling he would show up again today.

Amy ran outside at the sound of the TARDIS, coming to stand next to River. Tune and Allinora stood where they were, frozen in shock, though River could see the excitement in Tune's eyes.

The door opened and the Doctor stepped out, obviously surprised to be greeted by the two children.

"Hello!" he said brightly, looking around at the bright sunny surroundings around him. "I appear to be late."

"Yes you are!" said Tune, Allinora nodding, her eyes wide. "Eight whole months!"

"Oh dear," said the Doctor, leaning in conspiritorially, "River will be ever so unhappy. You're the boy whose room I accidentally landed in, aren't you! Terribly sorry about that. You've gotten taller since I saw you."

"It's my birthday today!" said Tune, grinning at him. "I'm four now! My name's Tune by the way, Tune Song."

A flicker of recognition passed over the Doctor's face, though he didn't show it noticeably. He shook the boy's hand. "Nice to meet you, Tune. Happy birthday!"

On the porch step, Amy turned to her older daughter with a somewhat sad smile on her face.

"He's just terrific with kids, isn't he. He'll make a magnificent dad." she said, with a meaningful glance.

"I've told you what my decision is, Amy, and I'm not going back on it."

Amy sighed before walking over to the Doctor, River following closely behind.

Seeing him, the Doctor held up his finger to pause Tune's rant (Tune, River thought, had the ability to ramble unlike anything she had ever seen before. It even rivaled that of his father's.) and turned to face the adults.

"Ponds!" he cried happily.

"Doctor!" said Amy, hugging him. Then, breaking away and pointing to Tune and Allinora "I see you've met my children."

"Oh, they're yours! That makes sense." said the Doctor. "But why is he Song? Is the girl Song too?"

"No." said Amy. "Just Tune. Rory and I could never agree which name to take, his or mine, and we couldn't decide whether Tune would be a Williams or a Pond, so River stepped in and suggested her name. However, by the time Allinora was born, Rory was willing to give me pretty much anything I wanted, so she got Pond, after me."

"Oh, interesting." said the Doctor clearly not caring all that much.

River cleared her throat.

"You're ignoring me." she said pointedly to him.

He blushes, embarrassed.

"I was a bit afraid you were going to hit me! Your brother said you were cross, and, considering your track record, it's a legitimate concern. Oh, blimey, you've got a brother now. That's odd."

She smiled at him.

"Not that odd. Not any more odd than having parents younger than you or a thousand year old alien husband." she commented, standing up on tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. "Now, shall we go inside?" turning to the children, she said, "There's cake. At least, I think there's cake."

"Yay!" cried both Tune and Allinora together.

The two children ran into the house, leaving River and the Doctor alone in the yard.

"Well," said the Doctor, smiling sheepishly at her "Hello! I'm back!"

"I noticed." she said, smiling. "Shall we go in?"

She offered him a had which he gratefully accepted.

"Of course, Song. Lead the way."

A/N Next chapter is filler, but I really wanted to write it, so I will! :) And the big revelation is coming soon (not sure how soon, but soon!)


	6. Chapter 6

A/N This chapter is going to be the second to last bit of this story, and the big revelation will be next chapter (probably.) After this, I have ideas for another story involving these characters, because I like writing them. Again, thanks to all my lovely reviewers and favoritors! You guys are awesome! :)

After leaving on Tune's birthday, the Doctor continued to pop in frequently, if irregularly. It was an arrangement that seemed to work well for all of them. The Doctor got to see his family without having to stay in one place for too long, which drove him mad. He also fixed River's long broken vortex manipulator, and if she used it from time to time late at night, well, that really wasn't anyone's business, was it?

The Doctor arrived out of the blue that morning to find the Pond family (and Songs) busily preparing for...something.

"Why is everyone...dressed up?" he asked cautiously.

Throwing him a backwards glance River replied.

"An old friend of Amy's is getting married. The four of us are going." then, to her son, "Stay still, Tune."

"Oh." said the Doctor, surprised.

"The Doctor can come, can't he?" said Tune excitedly, looking up at River, who was attempting (unsuccessfully) to tie his blue bow tie as the child squirmed.

"Yeah!" agreed Allinora.

Amy shrugged.

"Sure, I guess, if he wants to. We have an extra seat in the new car, and I'm sure Joe and Beckie won't mind."

"Do you want to?" asked River, raising her eyebrows as if unsure as to why anyone would come willingly.

"Why not?" said the Doctor. "I'm not exactly busy at the moment. Let me just go and change."

... Later, on the way to the reception...

"This is the right place, yeah?" asked Amy, looking back at River, who was trying to make sense of the crude map they had been provided with.

"I think so. Yep, almost definetly."replied River, frowning.

Rory parked the car and the family got out, River and Amy helping Tune and Ally out of their car seats. They entered the reception hall to be greeted by the bride and groom themselves.

"Beckie, congratulations!" said Amy giving her friend a hug.

"Thanks!" said Beckie, a tall, cheerful looking woman. "Good to see you Rory. And who are these?"

"Well," said Amy, "the children are my son and daughter, Tune and Allinora Williams."

"Ooh, lovely!" said Beckie, smiling at the two in question.

River stepped forward, sticking out a hand.

"And I'm River, Rory's...sister. This is my brother in law, John. He was visiting from...the states."

"Nice to meet you!" said 'John' in a false American accent.

"Same here." said Beckie. "Well, it really is nice to see you all. Enjoy yourselves!"

Tune and Allinora ran off together almost immediately, evidentially tired of sitting still constantly. Amy and Rory left to say hello to friends, leaving River and 'John' alone.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked River, clearly expressing no clue as to what she should be doing. After all, she wasn't a wedding person, and the last wedding she had attended what's been her own. On a pyramid. In an aborted timeline, in danger of reality crumbling.

"I suppose we could go dance. We never did at our own wedding." The Doctor said the last bit under his breath, since, after all, he was supposed to be River's 'brother in law.'

Meanwhile, Amy and Beckie were having those own hushed conversation in a corner of the hall.

"Amy, who is that kid?"

"What do you mean? Tune? I told you he's-"

"Do you think I'm an idiot? When Allinora was born, you sent me a picture and stuff, but I didn't even know Tune was born. And you expect me to believe he's yours and Rory's son when I saw him next to Rory's 'sister' and her 'brother?' That kid is a spitting image of that man, except for the face, and it's certainly not your face. So why are you lying?"

Amy sighed. She had warned River that Tune looked to much like his father to ever pass as anyone else's son.

"It's kind of a long, long story, but basically, River's husband, John, the man with her, doesn't know about him. And I can't explain why, because you wouldn't believe me."

"He doesn't see the resemblance? At all?"

"No. And we should get out of this corner before someone notices us."

Back at the Pond's house that night, River was woken up by the sound of someone knocking.

"Come in." she whispered, trying not to awake the Doctor.

The door opened and a small figure stepped into the room, shutting it quietly behind him.

River sat up, blinking in the darkness.

"Tune?" she asked.

The child walked over.

"Mum."

Up close, the child looked as though he had been crying.

"Nightmeare?"

He nodded miserably. River hugged him, pulling him close.

"Can I stay with you?" Tune asked, sniffling.

"Yeah." said River, stroking her son's hair.

She stood up, allowing the little boy to climb in. He made his way over to the Doctor's side. The Doctor didn't wake up, but subconsciously wrapped an arm around his son.

River got back into bed, but turned her head away.

_I have to tell him soon_, she thought, _I can't keep lying to him. Tune needs him. _


	7. Chapter 7

A/N I think (though I have been surprised before) that this is the LAST CHAPTER! This is an emotional moment for me, because I have never actually finished a story before! It will be in 2 parts, probably, brecause otherwise the chapter would be too long, but it's still the last chapter (pt. 1) So, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank:

A. Sylva Dax - my second ever reviewer and the first reviewer of the story! Thanks a bunch! :)

B. Tardisbluephoenix - my most regular reviewer! You rock!

And to everyone else who has reviewed/favorited/alerted! It really makes my day! :)

Now, to the chapter! (it's a Christmas chapter because I like Christmas)

7 year old Tune Song was the only one awake when he heard the TARDIS materializing on Christmas morning. When the Doctor rang the doorbell, Tune briefly considered waking up his mother first, but decided not to just yet. He ran to open the door.

"Doctor!" he cried excitedly.

"Hello, Tune Song." replied the Doctor, smiling conspiritorially at the young boy.

"Happy Christmas! Well, Christmas Eve, technically! But it still counts!"

"Oh." said the Doctor, frowning. "Is tomorrow Christmas? I'll just have to pop back to the TARDIS then. How's about you wake up your parents and sisters while I'm gone?"

Tune nodded enthusiastically.

"Only, don't be late again! M- River gets cross when you're late, and you can't possibly miss Christmas!"

"I promise not to, Song. Now go and wake everyone up. And don't start with River. Do her last, or she'll be in a bad mood all day, and we can't have that on Christmas."

"No, we can't." Tune agreed.

DW

"Two hours until Christmas officially begins!" announced Tune.

"It's very late, Tune. Time for bed." said Amy, playing the parental role both because the Doctor was visiting and because River was likely to let Tune stay up as late as he liked.

"Aw, but I'm not tired! And it's only 2 hours till Christmas!"

"Well, then," said River, as if realizing that this was supposed to be her job, "then you'll only need to sleep for at least two hours and then it'll be Christmas when you wake up."

Tune pouted in a way that looked so much like the Doctor that Amy and River exchanged a glance, both choking down laughter.

"Come on." said Amy, putting a hand on her grandson's shoulder. "If you go now, River will come with us. Deal?"

The child nodded sulkily, and left the room, followed by Amy and River.

DW

After putting Tune to sleep, Amy pulled River aside in the hallway.

"River, what's wrong?"

River shook her head.

"Nothing, Mum. I'm fine. Just terrific."

"You're lying. What's going on?"

"I'm...I'm going to tell him."

Looking into River's eyes, Amy didn't need to ask what she was talking about.

"When?"

"Tonight. Now. I just..."

River trailed off.

"River?"

"I'm worried, I guess. How he'll take it. I shouldn't have lied to him. It's all my fault. And what will he think now? Of me? Of Tune?"

"River, It's going to be alright."

"How can you know that? I made the wrong decision."

"You made the right decision, River. And I think that the Doctor will understand that. You were trying to protect him, and it worked. Tune is safe. You lied to him to protect your son - his son from going through what you went through. The Doctor will understand that better than anyone."

River smiled weakly.

"Yeah. Alright."

DW

When Amy and River returned, Rory and the Doctor were watching television. The two women sat down and watched it with them for a bit, and River was extraordinarily glad for the distraction.

After a while, Amy stood up with a gigantic, fake sounding yawn.

"Well, I'm exhausted. I think I'll get some rest. Coming Rory?"

Rory looked up in confusion, muting the television. Amy glanced over at River and the Doctor, and Rory's eyes widened in understanding.

"Yeah." he said, following Amy out of the room and leaving River and the Doctor alone.

Neither of them spoke for a few moments. Finally, River broke the silence, taking a deep breath.

"Hey." she said.

"Hi, River." said the Doctor distractedly.

"Doctor, what are you doing?"

"Lip reading. This program is brilliant, River! Rory has terrific taste!"

River stood up, retrieved the remote, and turned off the TV, leaving the screen dark.

"Doctor, there's something I need to tell you."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N This is...sob...the last chapter! I won't plague you with a page long AN today, so here's the final chapter...It picks up right where the last one ended!

(try not to look so upset!)

:)

"Doctor, there's something I have to tell you."

The Doctor studied River intently. She looked nervous, scared even, and though she was looking at him, she was picking at the sleeve of her sweater in an anxious fashion.

"What?" he asked, concerned. It took a lot to make River nervous.

"Do you...do you remember...that...week?"

The Doctor looked at her in confusion.

"What week?"

"After the library. We got one week."

"Oh, yes. Then yes, I remember the week. It was a good week, from what I remember. Why?"

"And after that? You dropped me off."

"Oh, yes!" said the Doctor. "No. No, I still don't get it. Where are you going with this?"

River took a deep breath, looking away from the Doctor. She avoided his gaze for a few complicated moments, clenching and unclenching her fists.

"I was pregnant!" she blurted out, staring directly into her husband's shocked eyes. She took another breath and slowed down. "I...I was...pregnant. With yours, obviously."

The Doctor blinked a few times. This sudden declaration seemed to have rendered him speechless. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again, shaking his head. He finally managed to get out a strangled 'what?' looking at River, who was again avoiding his gaze.

"We, I mean, Amy and Rory and I, we were terrified. You had told me you weren't coming back for four years, and I didn't know what to do. So we hid, and we lied after he was born. To everyone. We told the world that he was the son of my parents, my brother, Tune Song."

"Is this a joke?" he asked, harshly, his gaze hard.

"Of course it's not a joke! Why would I joke about this?" River snapped. "We had to lie."

There was silence in the room for a moment. River paused for a breath again, as if hoping he would speak. He was kind enough to do so.

"Even to me?"

River reached up to brush something away from her eyes before turning away again, not daring to even look at him.

"Even to you."

There was a very difficult silence. River was staring down at her hands in her lap, inspecting her fingers.

"Why, River?" The Doctor sounded betrayed, hurt, and still slightly disbelieving and confused. A distant part of River that was still watching on, analyzing the situation was relieved to see that though he portrayed all of these expressions and was obviously not at all pleased, he didn't seem angry. That was a good thing, she recognized.

"Why do you think?" she asked.

There was silence again, and it didn't seem that anyone was likely to break it. River stood up.

"I'm going to bed." She said flatly and left the room.

DW

The Doctor stood in the hallway by the door, his mind racing. Amy came down the stairs just as he was about to leave, and she walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face her.

"Where do you think you're going, young man?" Amy's tone was joking, yet also not at the same time.

"Why does it matter?" asked the Doctor, his tone warning, though why he wasn't sure. He was having a difficult time processing the revelations of the evening.

"Because, running away is the worst possible thing you could do right now, if not for you then for River, and like it or not, she's _my_ daughter before she's _your _ wife. Understood?"

The message was clear: As frustrated and confused as you are right now, River is more important to both of us, even if you don't recognize it right now, so sit down and stop trying to run away from your problems like a little kid.

"Understood." Said the Doctor grudgingly. Amy was right.

"Then sit down, and we'll talk."

Amy walked over to the couch and sat down, patting the seat next to her.

"Why didn't she tell me?" asked the Doctor impatiently, wasting no time on pleasantries.

"Doctor, remember what her child, her _whole life_ has been like? Kidnapped as a baby, raised away from her parents, tortured and manipulated, brainwashed to kill the man she loved? She doesn't talk about it, and I don't think that she even remembers most of it, but they hurt her, and they could still be out there. Think what she would have done to undo all of that. And then tell me, Doctor, what she wouldn't do to protect her own child, or even _any child_ from that fate."

The Doctor thought about it for a complicated moment, understanding rippling through his consciousness.

"Why-"

"Why not tell you? Because she wasn't willing to take any chances. River didn't want there to even be a outside possibility that someone could track Tune. And, Doctor, she never came right out and said it, but I think she was scared. She was a single mother centuries out of place living with her parents, and there wasn't anything positive she could do to make sure that her son was safe. Tune was almost four years old when you came back. I think she was terrified that you wouldn't react well, and she just didn't know how to tell you. Not without being sure she could control what happened next."

"So you're saying…she was afraid of me."

"Basically, yes. You left her. Maybe you had to, but you didn't explain. She had no idea why, just that you had left her here. I think that she worried that it was something she did."

"It wasn't. I love her. I wouldn't have left her if I didn't have to."

"That's what I told her. But truth be told, with you gone, I agreed with her decision to hide. I remember what it was like, to lose Melody the way we did. Tune was all River had for a long time. It would have killed her to lose him."

The Doctor had now adopted a look of…what, regret? Amy couldn't tell.

"Oh." He said quietly.

"Now, don't leave her now. Please, Doctor. You haven't done anything wrong, not directly, but you can make this right."

The Doctor stood up.

"Yeah. Thank you, Pond." He said, his voice still low and somewhat miserable before heading up the stairs.

However, he didn't head straight for River's bedroom. Instead, he went further down the hall and opened the door to Tune Song's room.

He walked over to the bed without making a sound. It was late at night, so the Doctor wasn't surprised to see that the boy, his _son_, was asleep, lying on his back with his hair mussed and in his face and wearing an expression that was amazingly similar to River's when she left, both peaceful and worried at the same time. However, looking at Tune, he really was surprised that he hadn't seen the resemblance between the child and himself. They both had dark, unruly hair, and like his father, Tune was tall and lean and always somewhat preoccupied all the time, like he had a million different things he was thinking about and trying to hold in his head at the same time.

The Doctor bent down to touch the boy's face, gently pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. As surprised and shocked as he was , the Doctor also felt another emotion bubbling up inside of him, and that was joy. He had been a father before, long ago back on Gallifrey and then the situation with Jenny not so long ago, but he had thought that it would never happen again. He had never imagined having another child, and certainly not with River. It simply hadn't crossed his mind. But now, as he looked down at his son, he was sure that he had never loved anything so much in the universe as he loved that little boy at that moment.

He stood up once again, but before he left the room, he whispered, "Merry Christmas, Tune Song."

DW

River was mostly asleep when he entered, but she still noticed him come in. She didn't particularly want to talk anymore that night however, so she pretended to actually be sleeping. The Doctor was unlikely to wake her.

He came over, slipping off his shoes and jacket and crawled into bed, though being careful not to disturb her. He didn't say anything for a while, just lay there staring at the ceiling, but after a while he spoke, quietly and without wanting a response.

"River, I'm sorry. I understand, and I should have been here for you all these years, but he's beautiful, and I love both of you and I won't ever leave you again unless I absolutely have to. And I'm so, so sorry. About everything."

DW

**8 years later…**

_Tune opened the gift wrapped box. Inside, there was an odd wrist band that he recognized as a vortex manipulator and a note written in very familiar handwriting. It read:_

_Tune-_

_023/777/6543/**/0421_

_There was a reason I recognized the name Tune Song._

_Lots of love, and, as always, best not tell your mother,_

_The Doctor_

_It only took Tune a few seconds to realize what the Doctor meant. With a smile, he strapped on the vortex manipulator and entered the coordinates._

_He spoke the words as soon as he materialized, not even wasting a second._

"_Song. Tune Song, physicist."_


	9. Chapter 9

Hiya!

I know that technically we're not supposed to leave Author's Notes as individual chapters, but I had a reviewer (thank you by the way. You were an anonymous reviewer so I couldn't reply) who wanted me to update. I won't, simply because I've added another story to the series that follows this one. It's called Sort of Siblings and you can find it on my page if you look. Sorry about any confusion, and please read that! :)

Citizenofwhoville123!


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